New Browse About RSS

Zeno of Citium

334–262 BCE

Zeno was a merchant who, while on a voyage from his hometown in modern-day Cyprus to Greece, was supposedly shipwrecked and lost everything he owned. Distraught, he found himself seeking answers that would help him cope with life whereupon he visited a bookshop in search for philosophers from whom to learn and was directed to Crates the Cynic.

Besides studying under Crates, Zeno was also a voracious reader of Socrates, Plato’s Academy and the Megarian School. Elements of these schools, especially in the form of responses to and improvements over their teachings, are visible all through Stoicism, such as in the idea of Preferred indifferents in response to Cynicism and Epicureanism.

NB Not to be confused with the pre-Socratic philosopher Zeno of Elea.

Concepts
History
Links here
Nature The concept of Nature is an important and recurring one in Stoic philosophy but carries a meaning (or meanings as we will see presently) quite Living in agreement with oneself The Stoic concept of Living in agreement with Nature has a second parameter. This also likely predates the concept of Nature itself, having been in
Next
Preferred indifferents in response to Cynicism and Epicureanism The Cynics believed in living a simple life to an extreme extent. Life was not only devoid of all materialism, it was frequently devoid even of
Previously
Stoa Poikile and the origins of the Stoic school The Stoic school was founded c. 300 BCE by Zeno of Citium. He started teaching under the Stoa Poikile in modern-day Monastiraki, which is also where
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Typeset in 14/20pt Inter Variable.